BPREVIEW: A Pigeon on a Branch Reflecting on Existence @ mac, 7/8th June ‘15

The final film in Swedish director Roy Andersson‘s ‘Living Trilogy’, A Pigeon on a Branch Reflecting on Existence, is being screened at mac Birmingham on Sunday 7th June & Monday 8th June.

Screenings start at 8pm on Sunday and 7pm on Monday, with tickets priced from £7.50 – for further info & online booking, click here

A Pigeon on a Branch Reflecting on Existence was premiered in 2014 at The Venice Film Festival, where it was awarded the prestigious Golden Lion award for best film. From October the same year, the film was further released through cinemas across the world – premiering in Andersson’s native Sweden at the Stockholm International Film Festival on November 9th 2014.

Described as a dark-comedy, the film takes a look at what it means to be human through Andersson’s own obscure and surreal observations of the human condition.

The film’s title was inspired by the painting ‘Hunters in The Snow’ by Pieter Brugel; Andersson said that he imagined the birds in the painting looking down on the people below and wonder what they are doing. He was further quoted as saying “(it is a) different way of saying ‘what are we actually doing’, that’s what the movie is about.”

Mostly set in modern day Sweden, A Pigeon on a Branch Reflecting on Existence follows two business partners who constantly argue – both suffering from chronic depression, exacerbated by the people they encounter whilst fruitlessly trying to sell novelty items door to door.

Unnervingly split between reality and fantasy, Andersson purposely uses a cast of unknown actors to portray the film’s grey, soulless and often anonymous characters – each telling a story that doesn’t necessarily have a specific narrative.

Roy Andersson‘s unique way of storytelling has been met with high critical acclaim. With review aggregator site, Metacritic, scoring the film 89%, A Pigeon on a Branch Reflecting on Existence has been described as “excruciatingly funny and streaked with coal black humour” by Time Out magazine, and “one of the strangest films you’ll see this (or any) year…” by Total Film.

Preceded by Songs from the Second Floor (2000) and You, the Living (2007), A Pigeon on a Branch Reflecting on Existence is the third and final film in Andersson’s ‘The Living Trilogy’ – concluding the Studio 24 founder’s personal vision on what defines us as a unique, yet detached species.